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U.S. Will Use Robots to Patrol Water Supply
bl8n8r writes "By the summer of 2005, the United States will have an underwater network of robots monitoring the nations fresh water supply. Realtime environmental details will be used to help safeguard the nations drinking water. The robots would take on the painstaking, time consuming, and sometimes dangerous, task of collecting water samples which is currently being done by carbon based lifeforms."
Let's certainly hope not.
The Army reading list
The article only mentions a project to monitor the Seneca River, some connected lakes, and an existing system that monitors part of the water supply for New York City. That's not quite "the nation's fresh water supply," although it is certainly a promising technology.
Wouldn't it be easier to just use sharks mounted with lasers on their friggin' heads?
Oh please, will someone please think of the robots!
Wait till they unionize, we're fucked.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Are robots any more trustworthy than humans, and less likely to pee in the water just to get back at their fleshy masters?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I have this image of a man pulling over to pee in a resevoir, only to have a many tentacled robot emerge from the water to cut off the source of pollution.
Case in point: He built a water preheater out of some foil-backed foam insulation, some pipe, black paint, and a 55 gallon drum. He built a box out of the insulation with the foil facing in, painted the drum black, and hooked it up between the water supply and the hot water heater. On sunny days it gets the water hot with free energy before sending it to the water heater. This reduces the amount of paid energy he had to use. Total material cost: $100. And it saved him $175 in the first year.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
You've been watching too much hentai. No more anime for YOU!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Millions die from water contaminated by rusty robots.
I don't know if it will make the US's lakes and rivers safer but I bet they'll be less skinny dipping.
...to actually implement and enforce some decent environmental standards? AFAIK, the past four years has been a tremendous step backwards regarding water quality regulations.
In other words, patrolling the rivers isn't going to do a goddamn bit of good when whatever minimal laws don't even have any teeth.
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Are these robots going to be powered by fish flatulence, by chance?
No way! Everyone knows that robots beat up old people and use their medicine for fuel. Hope you have enough robot insurance.
Cheers,
IT
Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
you know that the alien/accidental mussel called the zebra mussel has cause more of an increase in water quality increase in the great lakes than ANYTHING ever done by any technological means?
one little creature filters a bunch of fricking water a day.... about 3 gallons worth... now couple that with the things INSANE reproduction rate.
the best solution is not technology but finguring out how to use the natural systems that are so hugely more efficient than anything we can design.
Lake michigan is clearer than I ever remember... and Lake erie is actually looking like it's containing water and not industrial waste anymore.
Granted, it IS trasnferring the problem into the sediment as these buggers die, but now it's in a location we can clean easier than the raw water.
anyways, Cince I live near the absolute largest fresh water supply on the planet, why havent we seen any of these things being tested, talked about,etc... the NOAA research station here has nothing about them, and nither does the University of Michigan research station...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
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I had a conversation with these robots, and they explained to me how they will protect me from water-borne pollutants.
The first one declared that his function was to push a water sample into a purification chamber. The second one then declared that his function was to shove pollutants out of the water.
After a brief debate over which function was superior, they agreed that water-borne pollutants have a terrible power. Then they politely asked me to go stand by the stairs. That was weird.
"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
By the summer of 2005, the United States will have an underwater network of robots monitoring the nations fresh water supply
Hah, they have robots in there now.
I've been slowly leeching arsenic into my pipes trying to lure it to my workshop.
-Adam
"... task of collecting water samples..."
We have been using 'robots' to collect water samples for many years - I believe the article states that the new breed of robots will directly sense the water quality, with no sampling required. A small but important semantic difference.
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
Recently in Canada a good number of weather stations went from human operated to just a set of instruments and a network connection. It does save money but you occasionally get wonky readings like a "Recent snowshower" in July which a human would never report. Perhaps better programming could be used to ensure that multiple readings are used to filter out extraneous data but there will always be a need for at least a few carbon-based testers to go out there and install them, maintain them and check them when they act up. Similar issues will likely appear with robotic water testing.
$#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
Breakfast served all day!
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It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Jeeze... We are right here. You dont need to talk about us like that.
Yes, zebra mussels do CLEAR the water, but they do not CLEAN it. What they do is they remove all the sediment that other creatures oftem feed on, thus making it unavailable. However, they pass most pollutants right on (except for some heavy metals and such which they bioaccumulate like crazy, poisoning any creatures which then eat them.)
And the clearing of the water actually causes problems in and of itself. There is still a super high nutrient load in the water, and the extra light allowed in causes several noxious weeds to grow out of control, choking out most normal vegetation, destroying habitat several animals use (especially for egg laying) and choke waterways from human navigation.
While their unchecked growth in the wild does cause problens, zebra mussels could make an interesting part of a constructed bioremediation system (at least in waterways which are already infected by the zebras anyways.)
A couple of links on zebra mussels:
Wisconsin DNR
Minnesota Sea Grant
Missouri Department of Conservation
Iowa DNR
And slightly more technical link outlinking some ofthe risks of overfiltration
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman